Post Iron Man 3
by LokiLove24028
Summary: Pepper is infected with extremis, Tony's suits are all destroyed, the house is gone, and Happy is still in a coma. Set after the events of Iron Man 3 about what Pepper and Tony do to cope with their new losses and where they go from there.
1. Chapter 1: Clean Slate Protocol

"The clean slate protocol, sir?" Jarvis asked through his ear piece. Pepper stared back at him with the same confused look on her face when she caught him doing something out of the ordinary. Tony looked back at her and her ruffled hair with make-up under her eyes. The truth that he wasn't able to protect her was still unbearable for him. They hurt her, and he couldn't do anything. It made Tony feel sick to his stomach, but it was all over now… almost.

"Screw it, it's Christmas. Yes… yes." Tony answered his AI, nodding on each yes. As he said this he slowly moved forward towards Pepper to wrap both of his arms around her back. He could tell that she was both confused and still frightened about what had happened only moments ago. He couldn't do anything but hold her for that moment though. She hesitantly wrapped an arm behind his shoulders, leaving the arm with the ironman armor at his side.

Over Pepper's shoulder, Tony could see the numbers of suits flying around in the sky above them in aimless circles. He knew he was seeing for the last time when he heard the first explosion behind him. Stark watched as the parts of the boat reflected the light from the explosion as sparks rained down above them. The clean slate protocol was now in effect, and the first ironman suit was destroyed.

It wasn't long before the next explosion sounded from somewhere long off from his right shoulder. Tony watched the next suit explode in midair as more sparks flew like fireworks in the dark Christmas night sky. They began to go faster now, one boom after another as the suits were destroyed in midflight one by one.

Pepper let out a surprised breath over his shoulder as she watched the suits go, her hair brushing up against Tony's face as she looked back and forth. Tony was reluctant to watch Jarvis blow up his suits. He'd spent countless hours on all of those, all the way up to Mark 42. He realized that that was the reason he was destroying them though. They were only a distraction, an obsession, to keep him away from Pepper and the ones he loved. He had submerged himself in his work instead of being the person he should be for his Pepper.

Pep's grip tightened around his shoulders. Tony turned and pressed his lips against the side of her forehead, pulling her close. He took a deep breath, taking in the smell of her hair that he had missed so much. He kissed her and turned back to look over her shoulder.

"Okay so far? You like it?" Tony asked, glanced over at Pepper. He heard Pepper give a happy sigh.

"It'll do." she said, making him smile. She tightened her grip on him even more. They hugged for a while like that, the last of the suits exploding around them. Finally, the sounds of the suits being blown up decreased into nothing which was when Tony stepped back to look at Pepper. She was worn, but she was still his Pepper. He gave a half smile to her making her smile back.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing. I just missed you that's all." Tony commented. He noted the ironman arm still enclosed around hers as well as her black sports bra which was the only thing she was wearing as far as above waist level.

"Let's get that armor off of you." Tony said. He reached for Pepper's arm which she extended towards him. He turned it so her hand was palm up. The red painted armor gleamed in the lights that were stranded around parts of the ship. As she reached her arm out, the familiar mechanical whine that the armor made while it moved filled Tony's ears. He realized it would be the last time he heard that sound from the armor for a while.

Wiping the thought out of his head, Tony reached for the small latch at the joint of the arm armor and flipped it up. The pieces of the suit retracted from each other and clanked to the ground in a pile of parts. Pepper rubbed her arm where the armor used to be clad. Tony took this time to take off the jacket he was wearing. One of the sleeves was completely ripped off while the other was still attached, but it was probably the most intact thing on his body.

Tony wrapped the jacket around Pepper's back and helped her get her arms through the sleeves. It was much too big for her, making Pepper look even smaller. It was better than just being in her sports bra however.

"Thanks…" she mumbled as she zipped it up. Tony waited until she fastened the jacket around her before he enclosed her in his arms again. She wound her own arms around his neck and nestled her head in the spot where his neck met his shoulder. Pepper's warm breathing down his neck made Tony slightly shiver as he buried himself in her hair. Pep smirked at this before pulling away to look up at Tony.

"Hey!" Tony heard a voice come from behind Pepper. He looked over her shoulder to see Rhodey running to them still wearing the Iron Patriot armor. The mask was flipped up so Tony could see his friends face as he ran towards them. "Everyone alright?" Rhodey asked.

"For now." Tony said. Pepper turned to face Rhodey, allowing Tony to wrap his hands around her waist from behind.

"Nice to see you Pepper." Rhodey said giving her a slight nod.

"You too Rhodes." she replied. Tony kissed the top of her head before remembering something.

"Rhodey, where's the president?"

"Ah, the ambulances and police force showed up at the docks." Rhodey said. He added a slight eye roll. "Finally." He murmured. "He's getting checked out so they can be sure he's alright, I suggest you two do the same."

"Nooooooooooo…" Tony complained. Pepper twisted around a bit to look at him with an irritated look. "What?" he asked her. "You know I hate hospitals, and ambulances, and people being in control of my wellbeing. It's unsettling."

"You aren't the qualified one here!" she said. Tony rolled his eyes.

"Who needs qualification anymore." he retorted. He knew there was no winning this argument however.

"Will you quit whining for once and take two seconds to make sure you aren't dying?" Rhodey asked. Pepper had already taken Tony by the hand and had begun dragging him towards the mainland anyway. He followed her but dreading what was coming next. There were undoubtedly tons of reporters waiting once they got off the boat. The idea would have excited him a couple months back, but it was going to be hell going through it now. He was "back from the dead" even though he never was in the first place. He had no home to go back to, he had no workshop to relax and tinker in, no dummy or butterfingers to boss around. The realization sent a pang of depression through Tony's body. It was suddenly gone when he watched Pepper walking in front of him, pulling Tony along by the hand. He had her, and that was all that mattered.

~X~

The bright lights flashed all around him. The annoying clicks of the cameras filled the air and the roar of shouting reporters erupted into the night.

"Tony Stark! Tony Stark!"

"Where have you been since you house was destroyed?"

"Did you defeat the Mandarin?"

"Who exactly is the Mandarin?"

"Were you aware that Miss Potts was involved?"

"How did you survive the destruction of your mansion?"

"What will you do next?"

The reporters were gathered on every side around the ambulance. Officers held them back to the best of their ability, but they were still way too close than Tony wanted them. Their questions were all meaningless statements to him that he wouldn't answer. He tried to block out the noise while the nurses and doctors from the ambulance checked him, but the last question hit him. What would he do next?

Tony felt Pepper hand slip into his as she laced their fingers together. She squeezed his hand knowing full well that the reporters were probably getting to him. He looked over at her with sad eyes that made her frown.

"Where do we go next?" Tony asked as quiet as he could while still being able to be heard over the nagging paparazzi. Pepper looked up at him with wide eyes. The nurse on the other side of her was gently prodding her shoulder and patching it up with bandages.

"I- I don't know." she answered. "I mean… we could go stay at the Tower for a while."

As soon as these words came out of Pepper's mouth, Tony felt a constricting feeling in his chest. It kept getting tighter and tighter, gripping his heard and twisting it in knots. Tony's breathing became labored as it became harder to actually get breaths. He looked away from Pepper and stared at a spot on the ground. _Focus, focus. You'll be okay. You'll be okay. _Tony tried to tell himself. It was no use though. The anxiety attack took hold of him and he could keep control any longer.

Breaking away from Pepper's grip on his hand, he quickly walked forwards and into the crowd of reporters. He had no idea where he was going but everything was getting blurry. The shouts and yells became even louder around him as the journalists and paparazzi buzzed around him. There were so many flashes of bright light that Tony could see where he was going. He felt the shoves of people around him and the distant call of his name from Pepper somewhere behind him. He only kept walking though as the world began to spin and become more and more blurry. Tony was breathing extremely fast now and broke into a jog.

Finally, he broke from the crowd. They formed a cloud of people behind him pointing microphones and cameras, but Tony just kept running. He could make out a spinning brick building, the stretching parking lot and the street lights that surrounded him, but he hardly paid attention. He reached the brick wall right before he collapsed against it. Tony tried to regain the strength in his legs but it was too difficult. He eventually gave in and slid to the ground, pressing his back against the wall and pulling his knees to his chest. Tony could clearly hear his loud breathing through the night. He tried to calm it down but he just couldn't think straight.

"Tony!" he heard Peppers voice. He didn't look for her though; he could only focus on breathing. "Tony…" he heard her soft voice come up beside him. He was still breathing in fast loud, short breaths while tightly gripping his knees. Pepper knelt in front of him but still gave him a considerable amount of room. She reached forward to take his hand.

"Shhh… breathe… Just breathe, Tony." she said soothingly. He heard her words and tried to focus but he couldn't, he couldn't… "I'm here, Tony." Pepper said quietly but in a firm way that was comforting. Tony finally raised his eyes to look into hers. She looked frightened despite her calm words. He didn't mean to frighten her; he just couldn't control the anxiety attacks sometimes.

While lost in Pepper's eyes, Tony barely noticed his breathing calming down to a normal pace. The word became more clarified and less blurry and his head stopped spinning. A sense of relaxation and comfort washed over him knowing that Pepper was there. Tony finally took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He let his head gently fall back against the brick wall as he caught the rest of his breath.

"What the hell was that all about?" Pepper breathed. She moved to sit down beside him, keeping her hand in his. Tony opened one eye to glance at her before closing it again.

"I- I might have a slight of an anxiety issue." he said. Before Tony could continue Pepper immediately spoke up.

"An anxiety issue!?" she demanded. "And you didn't bother to tell me?"

With this, Tony opened his eyes and turned to look at her. Their faces were less than 6 inches away from each other as Tony tried to explain.

"No, no… I just found out not too long before the house was attacked. I was at a restaurant with Rhodey and these kids wanted me to sign some picture about New York and I flipped out. It's happened about two other times with mentions of the Avengers. I- I try to make it stop but-"

"Tony, it's ok. It isn't something that's easy to control. It will take time." Pepper said.

"There are aliens… _aliens_, Pepper. What the hell is that about? We don't even know if they're coming back or how many there are or how many are set on destroying Earth or…"

"Well Thor doesn't seem so bad. He's definitely not from Earth." Pepper pointed out. Tony raised his eyebrows. He supposed she was right. The thought of Thor made him smile.

"Point-break…" he whispered under his breath. "Yeah I guess Asgardians are okay."

"I'm sure everything will be okay." Pepper said. Tony nodded and they sat there in peace for a while. It was then when Tony realized that it was a pretty nice night. The stars were scattered throughout the sky and there was a warm breeze that blew past him once and a while. He squeezed Pepper's hand, grateful to be able to be there with her. After near death experiences with both of them in the course of a few days, he found himself once again appreciating everything more.

"Why don't we get a hotel room tonight and see how you feel about New York in the morning." Pepper said pausing a bit as she hesitantly said New York. Tony nodded and pushed himself off the ground, offering a hand to Pepper. She took it and stood.

"Let's get out of here." Tony said looking over at the mob of reporters.

"What about telling Rhodey?" Pepper asked.

"Rhodey can wait, I'm exhausted."


	2. Chapter 2: Miami Hotel

Tony opened the door to the room and guided Pepper inside. She had fallen asleep in the taxi on the way there and was barely awake now. She heavily leaned into Tony's side. He closed the door behind them with one arm as he kept the other around her. As he flipped the lights on, she groaned.

"It's ok baby, we'll go to sleep soon." Tony murmured to her. This made her perk up.

"Wait, but I want to take a shower first there's no way I'm going to bed like this." she said as if all exhaustion was gone. Tony smirked and nodded.

"Ok, ok." he said. "Am I not invited this time?" he asked. Pepper turned to him and gently ran her fingers under his eye where there was a deep cut with bruising around it.

"Too much blood I don't want you to get worried over." Pepper said. "And… I- I don't want to… to…" Pepper faded off as her gaze shifted from Tony to somewhere far off. She frowned as her eyebrows came together.

"Pepper… Pepper, honey." Tony said taking each of her wrists in his hands. Her attention returned to his face with big eyes. She looked frightened, but he couldn't blame her. The extremis was running through her veins. It was the very same serum that was responsible for countless deaths, whether it be for the destruction caused by the person using extremis for killing or the extremis becoming unstable to the point of explosion. He had to get her the cure before that could happen.

"Pepper, you won't hurt me. I trust you. You can control it better than I ever could." Tony told her. She relaxed in his grip for a moment before falling against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back to comfort her.

"Hurry up though; I want a shower after you." Tony told her. She pulled away and tiredly smiled at him.

"Alright I'll be quick."

~X~

Pepper heard the mumbled on the TV and the running shower from in the bathroom, but it was all distant noise to her. She suddenly let go of all thoughts as she drifted further under into sleep. The big comforter and soft pillows felt _soooo _good after spending who-know-how-long in a cold cement basement. She was safe, Tony was safe, Rhodey was safe, the president was safe… now the only thing she wanted to do was sleep. The shapes in the room blurred as the sounds became quieter in her mind. Soon after that, she fell into the darkness of sleep blocked out all sound and thought.

~X~

Tony opened the bathroom door wearing only boxers and the new pajama pants that they picked up at some all-night shop at the edge of Miami. All of their clothes were destroyed with the house except for the ones they kept at the tower in New York. Now that Tony thought about it, going back to stay at the tower was the reasonable thing to do. They had their only remaining stuff there and it was his only other house in the U.S that he could think of. Unless they suddenly wanted to move to the house in Dubai, New York was their best option.

Pepper was asleep already on the bed. The comforter slowly rose and fell with her steady breaths. Her hair spilled over her back and shoulder as she lied on her side, facing away from Tony. He took a moment just to watch her sleep. She was safe, and he couldn't be more grateful for anything but that. He may have lost his house, and cars, and suits, but watching Pepper made him realize he really didn't care as long as he had her. Tony had made a promise to himself to protect her, and then she got hurt. He was just lucky that she was still here with her.

Tony ran his hand through his wet hair before looking at the clock on the nightstand. It was already two seventeen in the morning on December 26th. It had been an interesting Christmas. They had been fighting extremis soldiers instead of sitting at home together while cuddling by the fire, but it would definitely be memorable, even if Tony didn't want to remember it. He had to admit however, he couldn't imagine a life without being Iron Man. He couldn't imagine not heading into battles with crazed people with dreams of making people with fire powers or electric whips or using his suit technology against him. The only word he could think of without all those things was _boring_. He was Iron Man now, everyone counted on him to protect them from the strange outlandish superhero stuff that others couldn't. Although he wished it didn't jeopardize his life as well as Pepper's so often, there was no way of going back now. He had to rebuild the suits soon, only a few though so they weren't a distraction. He'd make everything better.

With that in mind, Tony climbed into the bed next to Pepper. He pulled the comforter over himself and scooted closer to Pepper. He realized the TV was still on, so he reached over to the nightstand for the remote to turn it off. The room was a nice silence then, and suddenly the exhaustion wore in on him. He hadn't gotten more than five hours of sleep in 5 days or so. The fatigue finally hit him like a brick wall, no adrenaline to keep him going anymore. Tony turned off the light as he was already leaning over the nightstand. The hotel room was perfectly dark as he turned back to Pepper to press his bare chest against her back to wrap and arm around her waist. Pepper softly mumbled something in her sleep making Tony smile and hold her closer.

Tony laid his head on the pillow pulled up right next to her. He gently nuzzled the back of her neck. As he did so, he realized that Pepper was getting slightly warmer, her waist and neck. He opened his eyes to see a light glow spreading throughout her body. He quietly chuckled as her body temperature rose to a warm heat that wasn't very hot. He wondered what made her get warmer. Tony wanted to know so much about the extremis, and there was so much to learn. He knew that he shouldn't, however. He needed to get the serum out of Pepper as quickly as possible. Right now, she looked awfully cute as she barely glowed a warm heat that thankfully wasn't catching anything on fire. Tony nestled close to her once again before letting sleep consume him.

~X~

A breeze brushed over Tony's face and blew throughout the room. He scrunched up his nose at the contact before groggily opening his eyes. For a moment his heart skipped when Tony completely forgot where he was. There were only dark lumps and objects surrounding him with a sliver of light by a wall that look like a slightly opened glass door. As his eyes adjusted in the darkness, Tony could make out the features of the hotel room as he remembered the events of the night before. The sudden realization of all the action that had happened hit him, including the close call of Pepper's death.

Tony turned to the other side of the bed where he reached out for Pepper, but he only found empty sheets and pillows. Fear gripped his chest by the instinct of constantly being in danger in the last couple days, but he remembered that everything was now over and let his anxiety go. Tony recalled the slightly opened the door and finally put it together as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed sleepily. Looking at the clock, it was only four in the morning. He wondered why Pepper was up so early.

Tony walked out onto the balcony and immediately felt the warm breeze get stronger on his face, chest, and arms. Pepper was sitting up against the wall facing outwards towards the city of Miami past the balcony railings. She sat with her legs crisscrossed on the ground with her head bowed down. The familiar light red hair that Tony loved spilled over most of her face as she fidgeted with her hands in her lap. He didn't notice it at first, but he could see the slightest shake of her shoulders.

"Pep?" Tony said worried. He instantly rushed to sit next to her, sitting the same as she was. He put his right arm around her shoulders and held her hand in his left to stop her from fidgeted. She raised her head and let her hair fall from her face and across her shoulders. From the light of the moon and the lights of the buildings around them, Tony could tell that she had definitely been crying. He squeezed her shoulders and leaned his head into hers.

"What's wrong Pep?" he asked calmly. He raised his eyebrows at her as he angled his head to see her sadly smile.

"Nothing really… Everything that happened just started settling in." she said looking back down at her hand entwined in Tony's. Tony kissed the side of her head and held her closer. Pepper straightened and looked Tony in the eyes. Hers were red even in the dim lighting of the night, making her irises look even bluer.

"Tony, you nearly died. I thought you were dead." Pepper solemnly said. Tony gave her a sad smile before gently moving a piece of hair out of her face and leaving his hand at the back of her neck.

"I know… You did as well, and it was the scariest moment of my life." Tony said so low it was nearly a whisper. He gently pushed his forehead against hers and studied her face. _God, I love her. _Was all he could think. "We're okay now, babe." he reassured her.

When Pepper didn't say anything back, Tony leaned forward while gently pulling her closer by the back of her neck. His lips met hers as they kissed for the first time in a long while. It was a lot more than that though. It was their first kiss after nearly losing each other, after believing they lost each other. They had been through so many unimaginable things in only a couple of days, but they were finally together and safe again.

Tony pressed further into Pepper and farther into the kiss as they enjoyed their moment of peace on the balcony together. Tony felt Pepper wrap her arms tightly around his neck as she slowly laid down on her back, Tony following by moving right above her. Before they could get too far however, Pepper pulled away and looked up at Tony. She gazed into his eyes for a moment, making him shoot her a confused glance.

"You're exhausted, let's go to bed." Pepper said to him as she ran a hand through his hair.

"But…" Tony began to protest, but Pepper already wriggled her way out from under him.

"Come on, we can continue in the morning." Pepper said starting back inside.

"But it is the morning." Tony called after her. She looked back at him before entering the room as she rolled her eyes.

"Smart-ass." she mumbled, but she was smiling ever so slightly. Tony smiled and followed her in. He moved to the bed, lay down, and closed his eyes as he wait for Pepper to join him on the other side of the bed. He waited half a minute without feeling her get into bed next to him. He opened one eye to see Pepper grabbing a blanket and pillow to go lie on the couch by the door. Tony's heart dropped. Now what?

"Pep, whatcha doin?" he asked her. She didn't look at him but instead spread out the blanket on the couch.

"There's no way I'm going to trust myself to be that near you when I'm sleeping." she said seriously. Tony sighed.

"Haven't we been over this? You won't hurt me, Pepper." Tony said, trying to reassure her once again that she wouldn't burn him with her extremis. He wasn't just saying it to get her to sleep next to him either, he meant it.

"So you didn't notice?" Pepper asked. Tony frowned and watched her throw her pillow down at the head of the couch while still not looking up.

"What?" he asked. Tony rubbed his hand over his face. He just wished Pepper would come lie down with him for the first time in days.

"The pillowcase and middle blanket…" she said ever-so quietly. Tony shot a confused glance towards her that she didn't look over to see anyway. He twisted towards Pepper's side of the bed to turn the light on that sat on her nightstand. As soon as the room was illuminated again, he immediately saw what she meant.

The entire corner of the pillow that Pepper hadn't grabbed was charred and filled with burned holes. The top of the blanket Pep was talking about looked the same with blackened areas and missing areas. Tony's eyes went wide for a moment before his mood changed. He tried to suppress a laugh which turned into more of a choked chuckle as he bit his lip while trying not to smile. Pepper shot an angry glance towards him.

"It's not funny…" she said. "I could have hurt you!" Tony let himself smile as he examined the burned pillow and blanket.

"Pepper, I'm pretty sure I'd wake up before you burnt me to a crisp." Tony argued. Pepper just shook her head and dropped onto the couch. She fluffed her pillow and pulled the blanket over herself as she closed her eyes. Tony watched her before turning out the lights. He mimicked her actions with the pillow and blanket before pushing his head into his pillow while still watching her silhouette. There was no way he was going to stand for this.

"Brrr…" he said as he pretended to shiver. "It sureeeee is cold over here."

Pepper stirred but didn't look over at Tony. He rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around himself as though he was cold.

"Sure wish I had someone to keep me warm…" he said not-so-subtly. "Sooooo coldddd!"

Tony heard Pepper sigh and waited for her to give in, but no such luck.

"Man, if only I had an extremis girlfriend that could keep me warm so I didn't have to suffer miserably over here. Someone who got all warm and glowy when I cuddled them-"

"Oh stop, I do not do that." Pepper finally spoke up. Tony smiled. He knew that he had her.

"Oh yes you do. When I got into bed and cuddled you, you began to glow and get all warm." Tony said smiling, remembering how she had done that in her sleep. "It's adorable."

"Is not, it's annoying." Pepper countered.

"Soooo colddd!" Tonys said once again. Pepper let out a loud annoyed side before throwing the blanket off her and standing up. She picked up her pillow and carried it to the bed where she threw it down next to Tony's head.

"Are you happy now?" she asked as she climbed in next to him. Tony gave her a smug smile before scooting closer to her to protectively wrap an arm around her waist once again.

"Very happy." he said.


	3. Chapter 3: Tony Wins

Pepper stirred in her sleep, disturbed by something. She tossed and turned before finally fully waking up. Through groggy eyes she looked around at the unfamiliar room until her memories from the night before returned to her. Before she could even turn to glance at Tony, she realized what woke her up; Tony was moaning loudly, occasionally thrashing around beside her while tangled in the mess of sheets. His breathing was labored and urgent as if he wasn't getting enough air.

"Tony..." Pepper called to him, sitting up and shaking him lightly. His breathing quickened and he started making terrible choking noises.

"Pep..." he mumbled through his desperate gasps. Fear gripped at Pepper's chest as she tried to wake him, more frantically this time.

"Tony... Tony, Please..." she begged him to wake up. Granting her wish thankfully, tony jerked up into a sitting position with wide eyes. He continued his strained breathing and Pepper realized this wasn't just an anxiety attack as well.

"Shhh... breathe Tony." Pepper said as calmly as she could choke out. He tried to utter her name but couldn't. He was only able to clutch at his chest and made an effort to slow his breathing.

"I'm here..." she said wrapping a arm around his shoulders, not knowing what else to do. It seemed to be working anyway as Tony decreased his choking gasps. Pepper kissed the temple of his forehead and nuzzled his neck until he finally calmed down. It took a while, but Tony finally slipped into a normal breathing pattern.

"I love you..." Pepper whispered into his ear, making him shiver. Tony turned to face her with big glossy apologetic eyes.

"I love you too Pep," he said, nestling his fan in her shoulder. She held tony as he slumped against her mumbling inaudible words. He layed tired kisses on her collarbone and down her arms until his head was lying in her lap, his face towards Pepper. he nestled himself further into her lap, his face burying into her stomach.

"I'm glad you aren't dead, Pepper Potts." Tony whispered into her thin shirt.

"As I'm glad you're not either, Mr. Stark." she replied while running her fingers through his dark ruffled hair. He hummed happily and nuzzled her a bit further down then her stomach. Pepper's breath picked up as Tony deliberately tried to do.

"Tony," she whined. tony sat up and pushed Pepper down on the bed so she was on her back. he climbed on top of her and let his weight be lied down onto her body. He leaned down to meet his lips with hers and she wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him in closer. Their kiss instantly started out hungry, both of them enjoying being alive and together. tony eventually broke away and moved down to kiss Pepper's neck. He grinned at the moan he got from her.

"Tony..." she moaned, he just continued to pay attention to her neck, moving further and further down.

"Tony." she said more sternly now. She was still breathing heavily when Tony stopped and whined.

"Whatttttt..."

"As much as I want this, we have to get to the tower. people are probably wondering where the hell we are, and..."

"Pepper." Tony cut her off. "We both nearly died and lost each other. All I want is you right now, we deserve a break." Pepper sighed and stared into his needing eyes. She knew he was probably right. there was just so much to get done in effect from the whole mandarin issue.

Pepper ran her hands along his bare chest, over the arc reactor, over the rigidness of his abs and eventually around his waist while Tony watched her intently the entire time.

"Come on Potts, you know you want to." tony said mischievously smiling at her. To prove his point he leaned in so their foreheads were touching and moved his body against hers lightly at first, but then picking up the past. Pepper closed her eyes and breathed hard. He had won... again.

"Ok, ok I get it." she said. He smiled and resumed while kissing her neck. Pepper realized with a glance at the clock that it was 2:30 in the afternoon and people like Rhodey were probably especially worried, but she didn't care. She knew Tony was right and for once, she was glad that he was.


	4. Chapter 4: Stark Tower

Tony collapsed on the bed next to Pepper. they were both panting and staring up at the ceiling trying to regain themselves. Tony pulled up the sheets around him and Pepper who had no trace of clothes left. Tony wrapped his arms around his girlfriend. Pepper lied her head on his bare chest and for a while they just lied there taking in each other's presence.

"Words cannot describe how much I love you." Tony mumbled while kissing the top of Pepper's head.

"It's ok..." Pepper said quietly. She then looked up at him and grinned. "I think I've got a pretty good idea." Tony smiled and ran his fingers down her spine and back up again.

"Pepper,"

"Mmm?"

Tony hesitated for a moment while he rubbed her soft back.

"I'm sorry." he said, his voice strained.

"Tony..." Pepper said worriedly as she turned to rest her forearms on his chest to prop her up to look at him. It was a look that was familiar to Tony, he saw in painted across her face a lot when she was worried about him.

"For what?" she asked. Tony looked down at his arc reactor as he spoke quietly.

"For failing to protect you like I should've." He said.

"Noooo, no Tony." pepper said leaning her face centimeters away from his, forcing him to look at her.

"It's not your fault, this whole situation wasn't on anyone." Pepper told him. Well, he did invite a terrorist to their house but she didn't bring that up. he tried to speak but pepper stopped his words with her mouth. When Pepper pulled back, she saw Tony's face relax.

"Alright, let's go clean up and start towards New York, shall we?" Pepper suggested. Tony nodded and kissed her one last time before she pushed herself off of his body, letting the sheet fall from around her body. Tony whistled, getting a pillow to the face. he chuckled and began picking up the clothes scattered throughout the room.

The plane ride had been fine. Tony hadn't said much but he calmly lied in Pepper's arms the entire way as she stroked through his hair. She had informed a very ticked off Rhodey what their plans were and invited him to come visit the tower if he pleased. He said he would gladly later that night, but he couldn't stay long which Pepper didn't mind. She really still wanted alone time with Tony.

Despite the calm plane ride, arriving at the Tower was a different story. As soon as pepper stepped out of the Taxi doors, Tony was clinging to her as tightly as he could. He had the hem of her shirt gripped tightly in one hand and he was crushing her left hand in the other. She didn't mind, though. She just kept talking to Tony to try to get his mind off of being in New York.

"Welcome back, sir." Jarvis greeted as soon as they got in the Tower.

"Jarvis..." Tony said, although there was no doubt that his voice wavered. "Always a pleasure."

"The pleasure is all mine, sir." Jarvis responded. "Hello Miss Potts."

"Hey, Jarvis." Pepper greeted as she led Tony who was slightly loosening his grip to the elevator.

"See? Not so bad." Pepper reassured him. Tony nodded and lifted his grip on her but kept an arm loosely around her waist.

By the time it had gotten dark out, they had the fire in the fireplace crackling with warm sparks that made the tower feel homey. the bright city lights glimmered out the big glass windows that Tony was thrown out of only two months ago. He didn't want to think about that, though. He found it easy not to when pepper was underneath him on the big couch in front of the fireplace. He was curled up on top of her, using her steady rising and falling chest as a pillow. She had one hand rubbing his back and the other playing with his tousled hair like she loved to do. She watched him as he stared into the fire as if he was hypnotized. His eyelids would close further and further every minue until they were completely closed. tony would never let himself fall asleep though. He always forced his eyes back open.

"Baby, it's ok, go to sleep." Pepper would tell him.

"But... but..." Tony started to say, but he eventually drifted off, lying heavily on Pepper and occasionally moaning or nuzzling her in his sleep.

"Anyone home?" Rhodey's voice boomed through the room as he entered the penthouse.

"Shhhh!" pepper quieted him quickly, glancing down at Tony who hadn't as much as stirred in his sleep.

"Oh.. whoops." Rhodey whispered. He set down wine and bread on the coffee table that he must've picked up on the way there.

Rhodey went to the kitchen and returned with three glasses.

"No harm in celebrating kicking ass..." he muttered as he poured three glasses.

"I don't think you are going to need the third glass." Pepper chuckled as she looked down at Tony, fast asleep and curled up on her chest. "He's completely out of it."

"It's about time." Rhodey said. "He was running on his tenth wind or so."

"I know," Pepper agreed while she reached to the back of the couch to retrieve a blanket and spread it over her peaceful boyfriend. He shifted a bit and nuzzled her neck while mumbling making Pepper smile. He probably wouldn't like the idea of letting Rhodey see him all vulnerable and sleeping like a cat on her, one of his pride things, but he needed the sleep.

"Hey, I'd love to stay..." Rhodey said quietly while glancing over at Tony. ", but I've got to get back to base."

"It's ok thanks Rhodey. " Pepper said. Rhodey nodded and stood up.

"Tell Tony I say hello." he whispered.

"Alright see ya Rhodey." Pepper gave him a small wave.

Rhodes gave a curt nod and left, leaving Pepper and Tony alone in the Penthouse. She looked down at him, smiling as he slept. She loved when his hair was messed up perfectly as it was now. Occasionally he'd bury is head further into Pepper but for the most part he was still, a dead weight on Pepper's chest. She pushed his hair back and kissed his forehead before starting to doze out.


	5. Chapter 5: Extremis

Pepper and Tony walked back to their room in the tower. It was late at night, probably nearly midnight Tony was guessing. he was exhausted still and could tell Pepper was as well. He sat on the bed and reached out a hand to pull Pepper down with him, but something was obviously wrong. Tony's heart fell as he noticed Pepper standing by the bedside with wide eyes and clenched fists.

"Pep...?"

All of the sudden Pepper's eyes rolled back before they closed and she collapsed on the spot. Tony jumped out of bed and miraculously caught her on his knees before her head hit the hardwood floor. Tony gathered Pepper in his arms, supporting her with one arm behind the small of her back and the other behind her neck. Pepper's head lolled back so he moved his hand to support her head so he could look into her eyes that she was trying so hard to force open.

"Pepper!" tony yelled. She began getting warmer in his arms as a glow began to kick up... the extremis... what was happening? Tony knew it had harmful side effects but those always happened right when getting injected. Pepper had been stable... and now she was dying.

"Tony..." she managed to choke out.

"It's ok, It's ok baby... I'm here." Tony whispered trying to reassure her. He didn't know how he could though, he didn't believe things would be okay himself.

"You said you'd protect me." she whispered, tears in her eyes. Guilt gripped Tony's heart at these words. They were words that he constantly thought about every second of everyday.

"I- I'm so sorry Pepper." tony stuttered, tears filling his eyes now as well. She looked as if she was about to say something, her big blue eyes boring into his making him feel a deep ache in his chest. There had to be something he could do but he couldn't think or move. Pepper gasped instead, pain obviously taking over her body which was nearly unbearable for Tony to watch. Pepper's eyes finally closed fully, this time for good.

"No! Please Pepper, please don't leave me..." he watched the life fall from her eyes as they closed, a final tear streaming down her face. Pepper's body went even more limp in his arms if that was possible. The light began to fade and the warmth of her body faded away quickly forever.

"Pepper..." Tony choked out. His through was getting tighter and tears blurred his vision.

"Don't leave me..." Tony repeated "I'm sorry..."

Pepper just remained in deadly stillness and silence. The one thing he wanted to protect, the one person he truly loved, who he truly cared about was dead... and it was his fault.

Tony ran his fingers lightly over her face skimming over her eyelids, down the bridge of her nose, and over her lips for the last time. Tony pressed his forehead to Pepper's as his body began to shake. He finally allowed tears to slide down his face as he held what was most precious to him as close as he could, knowing he would never get the chance again. Tony's chest hurt like it never had before as he skimmed his hand through her hair. He had taken her for granted, she deserved batter than this, than him. Sobs racked Tony's body and echoed through the empty room that seemed like his prison now.

Tony gasped as he woke up on the couch in the Tower. He felt sweat damp on his face and his entire body was shaking violently. He took fast, frantic breaths with wide eyes. The only thoughts he had going through his head was _Pepper, Pepper, Pepper. _

Tony felt a hand gently grip his shoulder. He snapped his head up to see Pepper sitting right in front of him, only a few inches away.

"Tony!" she said worriedly, making it apparent that she'd been calling out his name for a while now. She looked at him with big, frightened eyes, but they were there and she was alive. tony took to time to throw himself at her, burying his head in her neck and squeezing her tightly. She slowly wrapped her arms around his back and rubbed it.

"Pepper." Tony moaned into her shoulder.

"What, Tony? I'm here it's okay." He let himself fall into her and just let her calm him down. It seemed to go faster than other anxiety attacks. On other occasions Tony would be happy about his progress, but right now he was just overly relieved that Pepper was still okay. However, after a few moments Tony realized she still had the extremis in her system. He had to fix her now.

Tony pushed away from pepper and gazed out the window behind her, frantically thinking of how he'd get started on the anti-extremis serum. Equations, elements, and all kinds of information flew through Tony's head as he said,

"I need to get down to my workshop."

Pepper stared at him like he was crazy which apparently was exactly what she was thinking.

"Are you insane?" she asked.

"Pep, I'm serious."

"It's after midnight and you're exhausted. This can wait until tomorrow, Tony."

"Pepper, the stuff inside of you, it's dangerous for you."

Pepper thought about this, but eventually put a hand on Tony's shoulder.

"At least wait and sleep a couple more hours. You said yourself, I'm stable."

"Yeah, but I can't be sure if it will stay that way."

Pepper sighed and closed her eyes, obviously frustrated.

"Please Tony... just a couple of hours of sleep. You can get right on it in the morning." she said, finally opening her eyes to look at tony with a begging gaze. Her blue eyes stared into his, making him want to look away since he knew if he didn't, he'd lose. But Tony could never look away, and tonight wasn't an exception.

"The counter active serum looks to need similar compounds as the serum itself..." Tony muttered to himself out loud. tony was in the Tower's workshop, examining the make up of the extremis serum to help him create the antidote. The holographic clock showed that it was only 6:34 in the morning, but Tony was wide awake. He'd been at it since five this morning, letting Pepper sleep in as long as needed.

Tony was in full work mode when Jarvis interrupted for the sixth time.

"Sir, Nicholas J. Fury is calling once again. I suggest you answer this time." Jarvis's voice rang out through the spacious workshop. Tony groaned and stretched out in his leather chair and rolled to face a big glass monitor.

"Fine, fine. Let him through." Tony agreed. Within fractions of a second, Director Fury's face appeared on the screen, but only a picture of him. However, his live voice echoed off of the long walls.

"Stark, this is like the fiftieth time I've called." he already went off complaining.

"Really? I counted only forty nine." Tony said lazily, uninterested in Fury's reprimands.

"Very funny. You can't just blow up a Roxxon Oil Company ship and proclaim yourself alive again just to drop off the face of the Earth once more."

"I didn't think I'd need to check in, I was sure you'd have your goons tracking my every move." Tony retorted bitterly. Fury chuckled but didn't deny Tony's accusation, just as he thought.

"Well in any case, the team was worried Tony."

"What, even capsicle?"

"If you're talking about Rogers, yes, especially worried."

"Well I'm right as rain." Tony said while fiddling with a pen cap on his desk.

"And Potts? What about the extremis? Tony, I'm concerned for her safety and those all around her..."

"Well, Nick, I've been trying to find the cure but your forty nine calls are making it difficult."

"Alright, alright. Just debriefing." Fury defended. Tony rubbed his hands over his face and yawned. After finding the anti-serum he could finally sleep without the constant worry.

"Hey, by the way, where was SHIELD for m backup this whole showdown?" Tony prodded Fury.

"Well what do you want me to do when you threated a terrorist then invite him to your house?" Fury said defensively. Tony rolled his eyes. When were people going to get over that one?

"Okay well in my defense the said terrorist was a British drug-addict actor named Trevor."

"Well listen Stark, I've got other matters to attend to today. We can meet another time to discuss."

"So not even as much as a 'I'm glad you're not actually dead Tony'?"

Fury was quiet for a bit before saying.

"Just stay out of trouble Tony." Then the line went dead. Tony shook his head, guessing that was as good as it would get with Fury, then got back to his work.


	6. Chapter 6: Malibu

Tony came through the doors of the elevator and into the tower's living room. Pepper was up making coffee in the kitchen in sweat pants and a tight tank top that hugged her around the waist.

"Good morning." Tony said, making Pepper jump and Tony smirk. She glared at him then continued to make coffee.

"Eesh, someone's cranky today." Tony said as he walked over kiss Pepper on the cheek.

"I just don't like having heart attacks before 9 am." she remarked. Tony chuckled and poured himself coffee.

"Hey, by the way," Tony started Pepper looked afraid of what was coming next, she always did when he started off a sentence like that.

"I think I need to go over to the office."

"Stark industries? In Malibu?"

"Yeah, there's some stuff there that could potentially help me with the anti-serum

Pepper nodded which surprised Tony. He hadn't expected her to go along with traveling to California when they just arrived at the Tower in New York.

"So... that's a yes? Just like that?" Tony asked, suspiciously. Pepper took a sip of her coffee before answering.

"Well, Rhodey called me this morning. Someone's waiting for us there."

Tony's thoughts first moved to some other genetically mutated villain, or maybe even worse: SHIELD. But Pepper didn't look worried at all.

"Happy woke up this morning." Pepper told him. Tony smiled instantly.

"Wait, really?"

"Yes, Tony. Really." pepper responded, quite sassily. Tony finally felt like things were getting better. He'd been baring the awful truth of Happy potentially dying for days now, one of his only true friend.

"Good, didn't want to go through the trouble of replacing him." Tony lied. Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Would it kill you to show some compassion?" Tony smiled at this and hugged Pepper close.

"I'm kidding, calm down." he said into her hair.

* * *

><p>"Mr. Hogan, there are people here to see you." The same nurse that Tony had met earlier that week said.<p>

The room hadn't changed much, still the same white walls and the Tv was still playing Happy's favorite show which always seemed to be on. Happy Hogan himself looked completely different in the best way. For one thing, he was awake. The scars and burns still covered his face and arms, but Happy didn't look like death anymore.

Tony's chest clenched up when Happy's face lit up at the sight of them. He felt guilty. Probably because he wasn't able to save Happy either. Man he was bad at that.

"Hey, Hap. How are you feeling?" Pepper asked, walking into the room first.

"Better..." Happy croaked with a raspy voice. Tony pulled up a chair for Pepper then for himself.

"You sound like Darth Vator." Tony remarked. Pepper lightly punched his arm to tell him to shut up which actually hurt seeing that Tony was banged up practically everywhere.

"What!" Tony said defensively. "I never said that was a bad thing!"

Happy chuckled which made him cough.

"Careful Hogan. I'm not giving you anymore time off that what's needed." Stark said, handing him a glass of water from the table beside his bed. After a long drink, Happy smiled.

"So in Tony Stark language, does that mean you missed me?" Happy asked Tony was about to make another snarky comment, but couldn't.

"Yes... yes, but don't get used to it." He told him.

"You should be proud. That's the most anyone has ever gotten out of him." Pepper said. Happy nodded, but instantly his face changed to a grave frown.

"Tell me about what happened with the Mandarin." Happy prodded. "It's all over the news."

Tony sighed and stretched out on his chair.

"Get comfortable, Hap. This may take a while."

* * *

><p>Pepper held Tony in her lap once more on the plane ride back to New York. He had been watching Criminal Minds on TV, swearing he wouldn't fall asleep, but in a matter of minutes he was fast asleep in Pepper's lap. She was alright with this. She was grateful for any moment he was catching up on his sleep and it allowed her to get some work done as well. She used Tony's back as a surface for her paperwork, she was sure he wouldn't mind.<p>

It was completely silent until a ringtone made Pepper jump and Tony groan in his sleep.

"Answer." Pepper commanded as quietly as she could above whispering level. She hadn't even had time to check the caller ID, but Criminal Minds faded away and was replaced with a number that she didn't recognize.

"Stark Industries, this is Pepper Potts." She said while looking down at Tony to make sure he was still asleep. _He really is a heavy sleeper. S_he thought to herself.

"Oh this is Ms. Potts..." an unsure voice said that seemed vaguely familiar. "This is Bruce Banner." the voice informed her. Something clicked in pepper's head, remembering when she'd first heard Banner's voice over a phone call with Tony.

"Oh! Dr. Banner," she said.

"Bruce. Please, call me Bruce." he told her calmly. It was hard to believe someone so well-mannered was also a smashing green monster of destruction.

"Bruce, then. What can I do for you? Tony's..." Pepper paused, looking down at Tony curled up against her in her lap. "... busy right now, but I can tell him to call back later if you'd like."

"No, no it's alright. I was actually just by new York and heard about what had happened. I was going to stop by if you guys weren't busy."

Pepper smiled at this, knowing Tony would love to see his newish-old friend.

"Of course, of course. We were just in Malibu for a day taking care of some stuff, but we're on our way home. How about we meet you there in the Tower lobby in..." Pepper looked at her watch. "An hour and a half from now."

"That sounds great." Banner said. "Fury also told me that Tony may need some help with an anti-serum." Bruce said. Pepper bit her lip. She didn't like people knowing about what she was and the fact that everyone was going through so much to save her when she couldn't do anything to help. She did appreciate it though.

"I'm sure he'd love the help, Bruce." We have plenty of room is you wanted to stay over a while." Pepper offered. Banner paused then spoke again.

"I'm sure I could stay one night." he told her. "SHIELD has been keeping me busy lately. Thanks for having me." he thanked.

"Oh no, thank you for helping." There was a long pause as if Banner was debating on saying something when he finally did, it was in a more hushed and serious tone.

"How is he?" banner asked gravely. Pepper guessed he knew about the anxiety from the last new York incident.

"He's... better." Pepper said, selecting her words carefully. She looked down to watch Tony sleep silently in her arms, his back rising and falling with her papers splayed out everywhere.

"It won't be bad that I'm coming, will it?"

"No, it'll be great for him. He's just adjusting to everything a little harshly." she said.

"I'll talk with him." Bruce said. "I'm sure he'll be fine though, he's strong." Bruce assured her. Pepper decided she really like Bruce Banner.

"Yes, yes he is."

"Alright, thanks Dr. Banner."

"Bruce"

"Right, Bruce."

The line disconnected and Pepper returned to Tony who groaned and nuzzle himself into her stomach, making the papers on top of him rustle.

"Not your table, Potts..." he mumbled. She grinned and kissed his hair.

"You were fair game falling asleep on my lap like that." She told him.

"Do you ever stop working?"

"If I do, who will do the work?" she asked him.

"Me?" he said, looking up at her innocently.

"Yeah right, funny." She smiled down at him. Tony smiled back up at her and Pepper leaned down to kiss him. Tony gladly accepted, loving when he woke up to this.

"Mmm..." Tony mumbled through the kiss before pulling away, obviously having something to say.

"I could've sworn while carrying out the job of being your workspace that I heard you talking to someone."

Pepper kissed his forehead again. She was about to tell him about their surprise guest, but then decided to keep the surprise an actual surprise.

"Someone from the financing compartment. Just had some questions." she said, knowing this would bore Tony. he nodded and began to sit up so he could face Pepper at eye level.

"Pep..." he began to say, avoiding catching her eye.

"What, baby?" she asked, noticing his trouble tone.

"I miss our house." he mumbled, looking down at the floor. Pepper put a hand under his chin so that he faced her.

"Me too. but you're Tony Stark... rebuilt it." Pepper told him. Tony thought about it.

"yeah..." he said. "I could do that." Tony stared down at the ground for a while in deep thought about something or just dazing off. Pepper smiled; he was so out of it when he had just woken up. He eventually broke out of his trance and just threw himself at Pepper, kissing her hard while pulling her close. That was another funny but great things about Tony. He has many spontaneous moments where out of no where he needs Pepper and need her NOW.

Pepper gladly let Tony do what he wanted. Papers were thrown all over the floor of their jet, but neither one of them were bothered. Tony's tongue found its way into Pepper's mouth and vice versa as she gripped his hips and pulled him down on top of her making Tony moan into her mouth. She had a feeling this would be a nice ride home.


	7. Chapter 7: Surprise Guest

Tony held Pepper's hand with one hand and tried to comb down his unruly hair with the other. They'd just gotten out of the car and were walking towards the Tower entrance. It was around 6:30, a little after

Tony opened the big glass door for Pepper, then himself. He hadn't had any anxiety attacks on the way there and hoped to keep it like that... maybe hopefully forever. He tried to keep his eyes forward, hoping it would keep him from seeing things that would trigger his memory.

Tony paused when he saw something that would definitely be a trigger. A figure sat in one of the couches by a lit fire in the Tower's lobby, his profile all too familiar. _But no... _Tony thought. _It couldn't be... _

Bruce Banner stood up and turned to face them with raised eyebrows.

"Ah, there you guys are..." Bruce faded off, catching Tony's eye who couldn't even fine words to say. At first he thought it was because of an anxiety attack coming on, but this was a good surprised, Tony realized. Something about having someone there to know what Tony was going through was a felief.

"I'm guessing you didn't tell him?" Banner said, looking at Pepper. She opened her mouth to answer but Tony interrupted.

"Wait, you knew about this?" Pepper smiled guiltily at Tony.

"Soooooo, that wasn't some guy from the financing department that you were talking to ?" Tony asked her, already knowing the answer.

"Hey, you do listen!" Pepper exclaimed, slightly amazed. Tony rolled his eyes and walked over to Banner to shake his hand which just turned into a hug.

"Good to see you, Banner.' Tony said. Banner nodded and clapped Tony on the shoulder.

"Always a pleasure, Tony. Heard you were here and I was close by so I stopped by. Need any help with that anti-serum?"

* * *

><p>Pepper, Tony, and banner spent a nice evening together in the living room of Stark Tower, or "A" tower as Bruce had pointed out. Tony had been much too busy to even worry about putting the letters back up on the front of the building.<p>

"A..." Tony had muttered to himself, deep in thought about something. "Avengers..."

"Yes, Tony. Avengers starts with an A." Pepper had told him. Tony sighed and rolled his eyes at her.

"What I meant was, what if I made it Avengers Tower, it could be sort of like our headquarters. That way SHIELD can't boss us around too much." Tony said, looking over at Banner. Bruce raised his eyebrows and nodded.

"I like it."

They'd just gotten Chinese take out food and caught up with each other by the fire for the rest of the night. Banner had been around, he'd been working with SHIELD for a while with a few experiments and was always trying to find better ways to maintain the Hulk.

"Man, I'm exhausted." Banner finally announced around midnight. They'd been eating popcorn while watching some action movie with Bruce Willis that was on TV. Tony wondered if this is what it felt like to be normal, he couldn't even remember.

"You need anything else in your room, Bruce?" pepper asked as she set down her glass of wine on the coffee table. "Sorry it's a little empty right now."

"No, it's perfect. Thank you." Bruce assured her.

"Well if Potts forces me to sleep in for a while tomorrow, which I'm sure she will, I'll probably be down at the workshop at 8." Tony told Banner.

"8am is sleeping in?" Banner asked, amazed. Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Don't even get me stared." she muttered. With that, Bruce nodded and said good night before retiring to his room on the 21st floor.

"Come on, Iron Man. Another long day." pepper said while pulling Tony up from the couch and to his feet.

"Does Iron Man get anything from his lovely girlfriend in return?" Tony asked, giving her a mischievous smile. Pepper grinned and kissed Tony on the tip of his nose.

"Iron Man just had fun on the plane!" she reminded Tony.

"Oh come on, nothing stops Iron Man." Tony argued. Pepper sighed as if she was reluctantly giving in, but Tony knew better.

"Alright, fine. As long as you make breakfast tomorrow."

"Oh don't act like you don't want to. I know your mind tricks, Potts." Tony grinned knowingly. Pepper smiled at him and raised her lips to his. He could taste the wine on Pepper's lips and tongue while Tony ran his hands up and down her sides.

"Let's go." Tony whispered against her lips. Tony lifted Pepper up so her legs were wrapped around his waist. He locked his arms behind her back and they kissed all the way to the bedroom.

* * *

><p>We're close here. Tony. Real close." Banner said, engrossed in a microscope. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and the front was unbuttoned on the top two buttons. He looked the same as he had when working on finding the tesseract a few months back. Was it really only a few months back?<p>

Tony slowed his scribbling on the scrap piece of paper that was filled with compounds and equations. The workshop was littered with papers like this as well as small bottles of solutions. Holograms surrounded the two men in their work. They'd been at it for two hours now, and Banner was right, they were close to finding the anti-extremis serum.

"This moved along faster than I thought, thanks for helping out." Stark said, keeping his eyes on one of the holographic projections.

"Hey, it's no problem. I find myself missing the team anyway." Banner told Tony, finally taking his eye off the microscope image. "Plus with everything going on, I thought you might like a fellow college... or a friend too." Bruce said. Tony looked over at him this time, realizing he knew about the anxiety. How did everyone all of the sudden know?

"Sir," Jarvis said before Tony could respond. "Miss Potts wants to know if you need a drink break." Tony looked around at the work spread across the room and sighed... he could use a drink.

"Sure, why not." Tony answered.

"Banner, you want anything?" Tony asked, pointing over at Bruce, waiting for an answer.

"A coke or pepsi would be great." Banner said, taking his glasses off to rub his eyes.

"You don't drink, do you?"

Banner shrugged.

"Another perk of being a big green fighting machine." He said sarcastically.

"Alright, just a coke for me too then." Tony said, assuming Jarvis would tell Pepper. Tony zoned out while looking at the ground and Banner rubbed the stubble on his chin. They sat in silence for an uncomfortable moment before Tony spoke up.

"So how'd you find out?"

"Fury." Banner simply said. Tony was done with questioning SHIELD and just passed them off as that annoying co-worker that you just couldn't get rid of.

I'm getting better." Tony said, finally looking up at Banner with a matter-of-fact look. "I guess it just all hit me at once." Banner opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment Pepper walked in, the two bottles of coke in hand.

"How's everything going?" She asked them. Tony put on a less-serious face and clapped his hands together on his lap.

"Pretty well." Tony said. Pepper handed Bruce a coke who thanked her and uncapped it. Pepper walked around a desk to get to Tony and hand him his drink while standing behind his chair.

"Thanks, honey." Tony said, taking the drink and resting it on his knee before tilting his head up to look at her. Pepper gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and rested her hands on his shoulders.

"You could stick around, you know." Tony told her as he uncapped his coke.

"It's ok. I've got tons of work upstairs. I'll let you have your guy time." Pepper told Tony. She gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze before starting to walk out.

"Thanks again, Miss Potts." Banner said before she left.

"Pepper." she called back over her shoulder, mimicking how he'd done the same to her. Bruce chuckled and nodded.

"Alright. Pepper it is then."

Tony waited until Pepper's footsteps faded before turning back to banner.

"I am fine, though. Really." Tony tried to assure him. He knew there was no way of keeping the troubled look out of his eye, however. Banner raised an eyebrow at Tony and then finally moved out of his chair and around the big desk separating them. Banner reseated himself in one of the chairs closest to Tony and held his hands together in his lap.

"So go on, tell me about it." Bruce said. He had expected a brief summary of the things Tony has been going through, but he did not expect to sleep through an hour of Tony reciting everything back to the so-called "Good old days". Banner was in for a long nap.

* * *

><p>"And the fact that you've been able to help me process…you with me?" Tony asked, looking over at Banner when he realized he wasn't all there.<p>

"I was, yeah." Bruce said, jerking up into attention.

"Are you actively napping?" Tony asked him, raising his eyebrows. _Busted. _

"I was... I drifted." Banner stuttered.

"Where did I lose you?"

Banner paused and tried to think back. "Elevator in... Switzerland?"

Tony's face fell as he narrowed his eyes. "So you heard none of it?"

"I'm sorry. I'm not that kind of doctor. I'm not a therapist. It's not my training. I don't have the.."

"What? The time?"

"Temperament." Banner corrected.

"Now, that I think about it. Uh, God, my original wound, 1983 alright, I'm fourteen years old, I still have a nanny, that was weird."

Banner threw his head back and got ready for another hour, making Tony laugh.

"Alright, aright. I'm kidding! Not about the nanny though, that part is true... But you've slept enough." Tony gave in, sitting up in his chair. Let's get this finished."

Maybe Tony letting everything out cleared his head, even if no one was actually listening. Or maybe Banner's nap had refreshed him. Either way, within a matter of twenty minutes, Tony and Banner had a break through that had them making a celebration toast to their hard work.

"Man, we are good." Tony grinned, looking down at the small glass of liquid before him. They had taken the original extremis serum and manipulated just the right variables... hopefully. The only problem was that there was no way of testing the solution first. Administering the serum to a non-extremis personnel could drop their body temperature to deadly low temperatures... it had to be used straight on Pepper. Usually Tony would be extremely confident seeing that he directly was part in making the serum, but since it was Pepper on the line, he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.

"Now, there will be some side effects. " Banner reminded Tony.

"She'll have to adapt to her body temperature dropping to normal temperatures, won't she?" Tony asked, already knowing the answer. Banner took a swig of his drink and nodded.

"She'll feel a piercing chill throughout her body for 5 or 10 minutes. There's nothing you can do besides be there for her: it's all internal.

Tony nodded and drummed his fingers on his leg. be there for Pepper, he could do that.

"Hey Jarvis, where do we keep any type of fluid injectors?"

"The cabinets on the West side of the room should have the item you're looking for." Jarvis answered. Tony swung his head around to look at the cabinets before getting up to walk to the West side of the giant workshop.

"Damn, Tony I've gotta run." Banner said, glancing down at his watch. Tony grabbed a small injector from the cabinet and turned back to Bruce.

"Yeah, no problem. You need a ride?"


	8. Chapter 8: Anti-Serum

"Miss Potts should be back in five minutes given her coordinates. " Jarvis told Tony as he walked back into the workshop. He'd driven Banner to the airport, but had no idea where he had went from there and didn't bother asking either. Bruce had assured Tony that he could take it from there. He hadn't bothered mentioning anything to Tony either. They both knew that it was probably for the best. With a mind like Banner's, he was probably always running around helping people like SHIELD out with different projects. Not that Tony was any less intelligent, Bruce was just too nice to say no and Tony had no problem with turning anyone down.

Anyway, Tony had thanked Bruce one last time before heading back to the Tower. Before Tony and Bruce had left, Pepper had went out to run errands. banner had said to thank her for everything too since he didn't have enough time to stick around to say it himself which Tony assured him was alright. Pepper still wasn't back, so Tony had gotten an idea. She didn't know that they'd found the anti-serum yet and he didn't want her to be nervous about getting injected. Anticipating the serum made the effects seem so much worse; Tony would catch her off guard to get it over with. He knew she'd be pissed at him for it at first, but she'd be grateful later... he hoped anyway.

The serum would drop her body temperature down to normal so she'd have a stinging chill running through her body as it altered the extremis effects back to normal. Tony wasn't looking forward to seeing her in pain, but he needed the extremis out of her ASAP.

"Sir, Miss Potts is coming up the elevator to the penthouse." Jarvis told Tony. Stark gripped the glass injector in his hand. It was just slightly bigger than one you'd see while getting something like a flu shot. He hoped the puncture itself wouldn't hurt too bad.

* * *

><p>"Tony, you here?" Pepper called out, looking around the penthouse. It seemed like the answer was no, so she guessed he was still in the workshop.<p>

Pepper set her bag down by the couch. Right after she dropped it, she heard something else. There was a small thump noise that came from behind the couch. Pepper froze, not sure if she wanted to look. Maybe she was just still paranoid after everything that has happened. Just to make sure...

"Jarvis, where's Tony?"

No answer.

Pepper was especially freaked out now.

"Jarvis!"

Still Nothing.

Pepper began to hesitantly walk around to the back of the couch. She didn't know why she was feeling so edgy... The security was extremely strong on the Tower and no one but her and Tony could get in unless with permission from one of them... which soon made sense.

Pepper was relieved to see nothing there. She was just about to relax when she heard someone rush quickly behind her.

Pepper shrieked as an arm wrapped around her waist and held her in place. A piercing feeling jabbed at her side and then was gone.

"Shh... I'm sorry Peps." Tony said gently from behind her. Pepper was utterly confused about what he was trying to do.

"Tony, what the..." Pepper couldn't finish her sentence before a huge wave of pain hit her, traveling through every inch of her body. It overtook her, and Pepper's vision went black and she felt herself collapse into Tony's arms.

The pain continued to course through her body, and all that Pepper could think of was the way she felt like she was going to explode from the inside. Pepper could just barely feel Tony gathering her in his arms as he lied on the couch with her curled up on his chest.

"I'm sorry..." whispered Tony, bringing her back to reality as a deep chill settled into Pepper's body.

"Wh- why am i s- so cold?" Pepper stuttered through her excessive shivering in Tony's arms. She nuzzled her face into his neck, making him squeeze her tighter.

"We, uh, found the anti-serum." Tony told her, kissing the top of Pepper's head.

"_So you couldn't just tell me like a normal person instead of attacking me!?" _she exploded as angrily as she could while feeling like she was freezing to death.

"I thought it'd be easy to get it over with." Tony said calmly. Of course he ws calm, he wasn't the living ice box.

Pepper groaned and burried herself deeper into Tony's chest, trying to get warm which wsn't working. TOny rubbed her back and kissed her forehead.

"It'll only last a few more minutes." Tony assured her calmly. "Then you'll be all better, baby." Pepper was relieved despite the freezing pain. She hated the extremis powers insde of her, even if they did save her life and Tony's.

"I love you, Pep." Tony whispered into her hair. She shivered against him and gently gripped his shirt.

"I love you too, Tony."

They stayed like that for a while, Tony lying on his back and Pepper huddled on top of him. His arms engulfed her entire upper body, but nothing stopped her from shaking. Occasionally Tony would whisper in her ear or kiss her lightly.

After a half an hour or so, Pepper's eyes began slowly closing as she grew more tired.

"I don't get it... The effects should've worn of twenty minutes ago." Tony said worriedly.

"Oh yeah, they did." Pepper admitted casually, looking up at Tony. He frowned.

"Well thanks for the heads-up!" he snorted.

"You're one to talk."

"Touche."

"I just didn't want to end this." Pepper told Tony, kissing his neck. Tony grinned and squeezed her gently.

"Aw, Pep. It doesn't have to." he said.

"Where's Banner, by the way?" she asked, craning her neck to look up into Tony's eyes.

"Oh, he had to go. He said thanks for everything." Tony informed her, tracing his fingers over Pepper's spine. Pepper nodded.

"I like him."

"Me too."

"What time is it?"

Tony checked his watch.

"6ish."

Pepper nodded agian and bit her lip before looking back up at Tony.

"Wanna get a blanket and watch a movie?"

Tony grinned and kissed the bridge of her nose.

"Sure"

* * *

><p>Tony pushed himself up with a grunt. His wounds were definitely healing, but he still was sore as hell pretty much everywhere. Pepper was sound asleep next to him in their bed. Her hair was spread all over the pillow and half of her face was covered with her arm. He always loved watching the way she slept. He was rarely able to not cuddle up to her when watching though.<p>

He wasn't sure why he was up at 2 am, but he felt like he needed to walk or something.

Trying to not make too much sudden movement, Tony slowly slid out of bed and snuck across the floor and out of the room.

The giant living room was dark and lonely. The city lights illuminated the room enough for Tony to see where he was moving to across the cold glossy stone floor.

Yawning, Stark sat on a stool at the big marble counter across the room. He ran his hand through his hair and thought about the past few days. Everything seemed to be falling into place for the most part. His anxiety went down, Happy woke up, Pepper was cured... What now?

Tony's mind flew to the suits. They'd been pretty bussing lately, distracting him from the topic. It worried him though. Ever since he stupidly announced that he was Iron Man, there was no back out. No matter if he wanted to continue being Iron Man or not (which he did), but there'd always be enemies out there. He couldn't stay without a suit forever. He'd rebuild eventually, just not obsessively. A few suits would do, like old times.

Tony yawned again and stretched his arms back. He'd wait another week before he started easing into it again. Maybe a mini vacation with Pepper would be nice. Yeah, Tony, could use one of those.

Stark was about to go back to bed when a pile of papers caught his eye. There were a few envelopes that he guessed were from the mail the other day. The one that caught his eyes said it was sent from Tokyo. Tony eyed the envelope and then reached over for it... he wasn't that tired yet...

The paper inside was directly adressed to him, Anthony Howard Stark. It was lengthy which made Tony immediatly lose interest. Something in the letter made him stop from putting it down again though. His arc reactor was mentioned multiple times. Tony skimmed the letter and his heart nearly froze. Was what he was reading actually true? Things were just settling down and now he was faced with a whole other life changing choice...

"Tony?" peper sleepily said fromt he doorway leading itno the living space. "You okay?"

Tony definitely wasn't okay after that.

"Uh... Yeah." Tony lied, sounding like he was choking on his words. Pepper obviously didn't believe him.

"Tony, really. What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Tony..."

"Pepper, for god's sake, it's nothing." Tony wasn't sure where his anger had come from. He was just loaded with tons of new stress. He knew he shouldn't be taking it out on Pepper, but Tony has never been too great against impulsive decisions.

Pepper's face looked hurt for a moment, and then turned to anger.

"I though we agreed no more secrets." she said bitterly.

"You really have to know everything?" Pepper, I need to make this decision on my own." Tony said, just as bitter.

"Everything that's important, yes! And everytime you keep something from me and _make a decision on your own_ you end up nearly killing yourself."

Tony stood up and crumpled up the paper and threw it away.

"You have _no _trust in me!"

"Tony, it's what we're supposed to do. Be there for eachother. How can I do that when you don't tell me anything!"

"Just let me think about it!"

Pepper threw her arms up in the air.

"Sure, I'll wait until your dead somewhere in your workshop before I step in."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Geez, Pepper. I'm not going to kill myself!" Tony realized that the decision he he had to make now could actually be life threatening, but he didn't say anything about that.

"Fine. make your 'decision' by yourself then. Sleep by yourself while you're at it." she said, stroming back into their room, most likely to collect her stuff to sleep somewhere else. Tony sighed and let his head fall into his hands. He rubbed his face and groaned. He hated fighting with pepper, but he was under so much pressure. Why did she have to prod?

Tony heard Pep step out into the living room again, but this time with a blanket and her pillow. Tony acted pissed when she glanced over at him, but his face softened as he watched her move towars the elevator. He though she'd just move to the couch, but apparently she was going to a whole different floor. _Not that I care. _Tony told himself. He knew that wasn't true though.

Tony waited until she was gone before he straightened and trudged to his room, their room, alone.

The bed was unbearingly lonely. It was too big without Pepper. Tony felt like he was drowing in a sea of sheets and blankets. It took him nearly an hour, but Stark finally feel asleep, pretending Pepper was there by his side.


	9. Chapter 9: Surgery

Tony hadn't seen Pepper all day. It was already three in the afternoon and he had officially called her 25 times; each time there was no answer.

As soon as he had woken up that morning, he'd realized that he had been a complete dick to Pepper. He asked Jarvis where she was, but he said she left early that morning and even he didn't know where she was.

**Hey, you seen Pepper? **Tony texted Rhodey, not even knowing where Rhodey was himself. When he didn't even get an answer back from him, Tony threw his phone against the back of the chair and collapsed on the couch. Why did he have such a tendency to be an asshole to the people he loves? Especially Pepper. Tony reached for his phone.

**Pls come home, i'm worried **Tony texted. He had lost count of how many texts that made. He never liked going this long without Pepper. He needed her more than he needed air to breathe. Pepper was everything to him, and he needed her now more than ever. He though he made his decision, but he honestly wanted to hear what she said.

**Pepper I don't know if you're dead or kidnapped or just super pissed, but pls at least call me. **

Tony texted again, hoping she'd understand his worry. Tony nearly jumped out of his skin when his phone vibrated. Tony rushed so fast to answer that he knocked it on the floor at first.

"Pepper!" he said when he finally answered the phone.

"Tony. What do you want."

_Ouch. That hurt._

"To know where you are!"

"Do you really have to know _everything_?" pepper said sourly. Tony knew she was only mocking his own words that he'd said last night, but it still stung. Tony got an idea suddenly, and he needed to hurry. He pressed the mute button on his phone.

"Jarvis, trace call."

Tony directed before he turned the phone off of mute.

"Pepper... I-"

"Tony, I'm kind of busy." Tony sighed. What could she possibly be doing?

"Don't make me come and get you, Peps. I'll carry you home." Tony grinned, remembering how he had to do that last time. Pepper tried to be mad at him for doing that to her in the middle of Stark Industries, but she couldn't help but love him for it.

"Yes. I remember. Don't you dare."

"Ok, ok. Just..."

"Sir, trace complete." Jarvis interupted. Tony shut his eyes and mentally kicked himself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing... Jarvis..."

"Tony, are you tracing me!?"

"Hey I uh, gotta go I love you. I'm sorry for everything please come home, Pepper."

"Wait- Tony!" she yelled, but Tony hurriedly hung up.

"Nice, blow my cover Jarvis."

"Maybe you shouldn't be tracing Ms. Potts in the first place." Jarvis told him, sounded offended by Tony's reprimand.

"Don't make me mute you."

"You wouldn't be able to find out where Miss Potts is then."

Tony sighed. Why'd he make his AI so sarcastic and sassy?

"Fine, where is she?"

"Behind you."

Tony whipped around to see Pepper standing by the elevator. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she looked just as angry as she did last night. Tony supposed she had a reason too. Pepper hadn't been doing any work, she was dressed casually in her jeans and black, tight long sleeved shirt. He realized how much he missed her.

"Hi Pep..." Tony said, quietly.

"So you were tracking me?" Pepper asked him, angrily. Tony sunk back into the couch a bit.

"Um, you wanna go to the park or something? I need to tell you some stuff."

Pepper rolled her eyes but didn't protest. Tony pushed himself up and grabbed a jacket for him and one for Pepper before getting on the elevator with her. He tried to reach out for her hand, but she pulled away making Tony sigh. She'd get over it eventually. Especially after what he was about to tell her.

* * *

><p>Tony and Pepper sat on a bench in a deserted part of one of the parks nearby. There weren't many people out since it was almost January and pretty cold. It could've been negative five hundred out though, and Pepper would still refuse to come to close to Tony. He loved how she could get fiesty, but not when it helped her hold a strong grudge.<p>

"Pepper, I'm sorry." Tony tried a third time since they'd gotten there, leaning over to nuzzle her shoulder. Pepper didn't pull away but didn't do anything else either. She just stared straight ahead and stayed still.

"Pepper, please." Tony whined, nuzzling his way to her neck. He kissed her under her jaw and then on her cheek. Pepper's face softened and she relaxed a bit. She finally looked over at Tony with big eyes.

"What did you need to tell me?"

"Oh yeah..." Tony trailed off. Pepper stared at him, waiting for her explanation. Tony tried to find the right words to tell her. It wasn't too big of a deal, was it? He wasn't quite sure yet.

"Well I opened a letter last night..."

"Wait, you read one of your letters?"

"Yeah, surprising. Ha-ha." Tony said sarcastically. He looked down at his hands in his lap and then back up at Pepper.

"There's a hospital in Tokyo, very prestige and all that. They think they've perfected a surgery to take the shrapnel out of my chest. No more arc reactor that I have to rely on for my life all of the time, Pepper. I'll be normal... well more normal anyway." Tony finished. Pepper thought about this for a while.

"So, what's the down side?" Pepper asked.

"How'd you know there's a down side?"

"There's always a downside." Pepper plainly said. Tony nodded and looked back down at the ground and rested his elbows on his knees.

"Well it's never been done before. They don't know the exact risks. It's potentially pretty dangerous... but I mean, what surgery isn't?" Tony said so quietly that Pepper had to lean in close to hear, which were his intentions. Her face had changed to worried in the time that Tony had told her about the surgery.

"What are the risks then?"

"They don't know."

"Geez, what do they know?" Pepper said, frustrated. Tony just continued looking down at the ground. He knew he was guilt tripping her into forgiving him and to just be there to comfort Tony, but he didn't care. He learned from the best. Harvey crossed into Tony's mind for a moment.

"You want to do it, don't you?" Pepper said more than questioned. Tony nodded but didn't say anything. Pepper watched him for a while, her expression softening every second.

"I'm sorry. I should've told you about it, I know. It just kind of caught me off guard and I took it out on you." Tony mumbled. Pepper bit her lip and tilted her head to watch Tony's face, but he didn't turn to look back at her. It took about a minute for Pepper to let her shoulders fall and her breath sigh as she snaked her arms around Tony's waist and pulled herself up against him. Pepper rested her head on his shoulder, and Tony touched the side of his head to her forehead.

"It's ok, Tony. I do trust you, by the way. If you want to do the surgery, then you should. We can celebrate afterwards and everything." she said gently to him. Tony grinned, but only for a moment.

"Pepper... I'm- I'm scared though. After all that we've been through it'd seem to be kind of depressing if I died just from surgery." Tony muttered. Pepper smiled sadly and touched her hand to Tony's jaw to turn him to face her. She leaned in and kissed him. Her lips were so warm and soft, Tony melted into her. He hugged his body to his when she let his tongue into her mouth.

She eventually pulled away, breathing hard. It had begun snowing right around then, small flakes collecting in Tony's dark hair and less visibly in Pepper's too.

"You'll be okay, Tony." Pepper assured him. He was slightly surprised about how calm she was. Usually she was the one to be worked up and worried over things. Maybe they were rubbing off on eachother.

Tony gave her his charming Tony Stark half-smile and leaned in to kiss her all down her neck. Pepper rubbed his back while he did, also making sure no one was walking by.

"I love you." Tony mumbled against her skin.

"I love you too."

* * *

><p>A week later, they were in Tokyo. Tony had been shaking the whole way there. After everything he does, one would be surprised that Tony Stark was so freaked out about surgery. Tony Stark did not like anything having to do with hospitals though, especially if it had to do with them cutting his chest open. Pepper was with him the whole way there though. Even Rhodey had come. He insisted as soon as he had heard.<p>

"Tony, you're fidgeting like crazy. Calm down, you'll be fine." Rhodey told him, gripping his friend's shoulder. Tony relaxed a bit... only a bit.

The hospital was huge and mostly glass everywhere. Tony tried to think of how fun it'd be smashing through it in a suit, but not even that could distract him. Doctors milled around everywhere in bright white coats that hurt Tony's eyes. His hands were excessively tapping his knee as they sat in waiting chairs as they have been for nearly an hour now.

Tony felt Pepper's hand slide into his to stop him from tapping. She kissed his shoulder and looked into his eyes. The past week had been thankfully quiet. Tony and Pepper had went back to Malibu once more during that time to see Happy and pick up Rhodey on the way back. He stayed with them for a few days leading up to the surgery which was great. Messing around with Rhodey helped Tony think of something else. And of course Pepper helped too.

They spent New Year's together. No big party this year like Tony had had every year before that. This year was his favorite year, though. He had everything he ever wanted... _Well I am Tony Stark. _Tony thought.

A doctor came out and interupted his thoughts.

"Mr. Stark, they're ready for you. Thank you for waiting." The man said, luckily speaking fluent English. Tony gave Pepper's hand a squeeze before letting go and following the man into a room in the back. He proceeded to explain the proceedure, everything Tony had heard before. He let himself zone out as the doctor droned on for a while.

"Alright, you can get changed over there." The doctor gestured over to a door on the right. Tony cringed. Eh, hospital clothes. Another thing he hated. Tony sighed and pushed into the room anyway. He wanted to get this over with.

It wasn't long before Tony was on the operating table. He wasn't wearing a shirt since it obviously wasn't necasssary. He looked down at his arc reactor... this would be the last time he'd be seeing it implanted in his chest for the reason being they successfully take out the shrapnel, or because he'd be too dead to see it. Tony hoped it'd go the first way.

The doctors prepared around him, lining up sharp tools on a table near Tony. He felt his stomach flip and tried to not think about it. Tony saw Pepper and Rhodey come up by the glass window that covered most of the wall to his right. Pepper looked terrified at this point. She was biting her lip and her eyebrows were drawn together in concern. Rhodey looked more peaceful and hopeful which made Tony feel a bit better that he was there with Pepper.

Tony realized he needed to be the strong one for Pepper. He gave her a small smile that made her relax a little. Pepper said something to Rhodey and he put a hand on her shoulder.

Tony returned his attention to the doctors when one started speaking to him in a different language. Tony frowned at him until he realized he was gesturing to the breathing thing above Tony. The doctor pulled it down and pointed to the little tab at the end of a straw looking thing... Tony was not good at medical terms. He put the tab between his teeth thought, knowing to do that much at least. The surgeon looked satisfied as he waddled away.

Tony took a deep breath and moved his eyes back to Pepper. She was looking at him with renewed worry. Tony sighed. She needs to relax. He gave her thumbs up and she smiled a bit. There wasn't any time for anything else after that. A lady dressed up in a pencil skirt and blue button down top came and must have told Rhodey and Pepper that they had to leave now. They did, with one last reassuring look at Tony and suddenly he was alone.

"Alright," the doctor that Tony had talked to earlier said. "We're just about ready. We're going to go ahead and put you down now, Mr. Stark."

Tony nodded and closed his eyes. He wasn't worried anymore. He was going to be free of his ties to living off the reactor. He was in charge of his life now. Plus, more room on his chest for Pepper to lie on. Tony smiled to himself at this.

Soon he was fading into darkness. The only thoughts left in Tony's head were of Pepper and how he couldn't wait to hold her again. After a while he forgot where he was. He happily thought of cuddling her by the fire and kissing her on the rooftop that one night after the Stark Expo. He didn't know if he was dreaming or not but he felt like he was there with her, and he was in his arms. Tony was more than content.

Then, things started to change. He was flying in his suit and skyscrapers stretched high below him. A giant stream of blue ran up from the top of his Tower to the sky where a huge portal was open. Creatures were flying through non-stop. Tony tried to fight off all of them, but he couldn't. There were too many. They were aliens... were aliens real?

Suddenly Tony was pushing up something heavy as he flew. It looked like a missel. What was he doing with a missle? It seemed like he was flying it through the portal... But no, he had to get back to Pepper. Tony tried to stop but he couldn't. The image of space came closer and closer as he flew higher. Tony could feel his breathing pick up and voices could be heard in the distance. They were shouting out all of these medical terms. The one Tony kept hearing was _He's going into cardiac arrest _ and _defillabator. _

Tony felt a sharp shock throughout his mind and body. His chest felt like the Hulk had punched him. Another sharp shock and Tony's world went completely dark.

* * *

><p>"Tony..." was the first thing Tony heard. Everything was dark and silent except for a quiet voice that sounded familiar.<p>

"Tony, come on. Please wake up, baby."

_Oh, it's my Pep. _Tony thought. His heart jumped a bit at the thought. He didn't know what had happened or where he was, but he missed her and wanted her. Tony tried to move or at least just open his eyes, but everything felt heavy. He groaned in frustration.

"Hey, it's ok Tony." Pepper said. Tony felt her hand brush the hair off of his forehead. He focused on opening his eyes and managed to open them after blinking a couple of times. He was in a hospital room that was almost all white, reminding him of Happy's room. He still wasn't wearing a shirt, but thick bandages were wrapped around his chest. A thin bed sheet covered most of his body and he wore the same pants he went into surgery with.

Pepper was sitting on the edge of his bed, stroking his arm.

"Hey, there's my baby." she said, gently. Tony closed his eyes and groaned, giving her a small smile.

"Hi Peps." he said, quietly. He slowly regained control of his body so that he could grasp her hand in both of his. He brought her hand up to his lips so he could kiss it and nuzzle her arm. Pepper chuckled and leaned over to kiss him on the lips quickly. Tony whined when he didn't get anymore.

"Never enough, is it?" she smiled at him. It was then when Tony realized that her eyes were slightly red.

"Pepper, what's wrong?" he asked her. Everything seemed okay to him. Pepper rubbed her eyes and sighed.

"Nothing, nothing. The surgery was successful. You did great, babe. In the middle of it you slipped into cardiac arrest though. They think you were having a nightmare too because you fell into anxiety as well. They were able to fix you up though." Pepper told him. "It was just scary."

Tony gave her a guilty look. "Oh, sorry Pepper. I'm okay now though, right?"

"Yep. No more arc reactor." she smiled. Tony looked down and noticed how... flat and normal his chest looked despite the bandages. He couldn't remember when he used to be able to see that. Tony grinned and looked back up at Pepper. His grin faded when she eyed him nervously.

"What..." he said, not wanting to hear what was next. Pepper took his hand and gave it a light squeeze.

"Well, they just want to make sure you're still okay since you had the small complication. They want to keep you for two nights... it's not that bad, Tony." she told him. Tony rolled his eyes. He was looking forward to getting out of there as soon as possible.

"Isn't there any way that..."

"Tony, I think it's probably best to be safe, honey." Pepper interupted. Tony whimpered and gave her a puppy dog face that made Pepper wince.

"Hey now, not fair. I'll stay with you until closing time, Tony." she assured him. Tony opened his mouth to argue more, but Rhodey walked in.

"Look who's back from the dead. Good to see you without that thing in your chest, Tony." Rhodey said.

"Hey, Rhodey please tell Pepper that it's unneccasary for me to stay here an extra two nights." Tony said, hoping Rhodey would agree with him. No such luck.

"Tony..."

"Ugh, nevermind. I guess I'm outnumbered." Tony gave in. Pepper looked sorry and Tony believed she was. Maybe staying in a private room with her all day wouldn't be too bad, even if it was a hospital room. "Absolutely no hospital food, though."

"I'll go get some stuff." Rhodey offered. Pepper nodded.

"Thanks, Rhodey."

"Anytime."

And soon Rhodey was gone. Tony tried to push himself up to at least sit, but his chest burned and a sharp shooting pain went through his chest. He groaned and clutched at the sheet on his bed.

"Ow."

"Lie down, you don't need to be anywhere." Pepper chuckled, pushing him back down. Tony sighed and moved to the far side of his bed so he could pull Pepper down next to him.

"Fine, but I'm taking you down with me." He said, pulling Pepper down so she was lying next to him.

"Tony! I don't think they'd be too happy if they knew..."

"Who's paying who? Yeah, that's what I thought." Tony said when she was silent. He ran his hand through her hair and kissed her nose.

"I dreamed about you." He told her. Pepper grinned.

"Aw, did you?"

Tony nodded and nudged his way under her chin against her neck. He kissed her collarbone and moved up to the middle of her neck where he licked her lightly. Pepper breathed harder and pushed her hand through his hair and pulled him closer.

"It's only been five minutes since you've woken up and you're already going at it." she breathed. Tony snorted and looked up at her.

"I'll stop if you want me too-"

"No!"

Tony smiled and pushed his lips against her neck and lightly sucked on the skin there, making Pepper moan.

"Hey, forgot to grab the keys to the..." Rhodey trailed off as he burst in, and Pepper hurriedly sat up. "... rental car..." he finished. "Well now I wish I hadn't. I'll just be, uh, going now." Rhodey grabbed the keys and hurried out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Pepper laughed and shook her head. Tony chuckled and pulled Pepper back down.

"Now where were we?"


	10. Chapter 10: Resolutions

**Alright, I meant to warn people last chapter, but this will be my last chapter for this story! For Pepper/Tony lovers, there will be another soon to come Pepperony story... in fact I think I'll start it right after this one since my Avengers 2 one won't be started until the first trailer comes out. So thanks for all the support on this story, it's been great writing it**

* * *

><p>Tony sat on the hospital bed in his own clothes finally. He was alone, but it was the first time he had been in two days. Pepper had stayed with him every second that was possible, and the only reason she wasn't there now was because she was getting all of the discharge papers filled out down in the hospital waiting room.<p>

Tony looked down at his chest. New bandages were wrapped around most of it and he'd have to keep putting new ones on everyday for another week or so. The stitches underneath itched a bit, but for the most part they were barely noticeable. What was noticeable however, was Tony's sense of freedom. It felt good not having a big glowing circle in the middle of his chest to keep him alive.

Tony sighed and looked down at the small glass bottle in his hand that wasn't any bigger than a marker cap. Inside, were tiny pieces of shrapnel: Tony had asked them to save it for him… he had the idea on the plane ride over to Tokyo for the surgery. He felt like he needed to get Pepper something, but not just something. He wanted her to know that she would always have his heart. Of course she'd have that figuratively, but she could have the shrapnel that was near it literally. That was close enough. He wasn't just going to just leave the shrapnel plain in the bottle though.

"Mr. Stark, you can go now. Miss Virginia Potts is waiting in the lounge downstairs." A nurse said upon entering his room. Tony nodded his thanks and stood up and looked around at his room… he would not miss this place.

Once down in the lounge, Tony was able to pick out Pepper in an instant. Not many people in Tokyo had her hair; well, not many people did at all in fact. She was facing away from him, looking out the glass doors waiting for Rhodey to come around with the car. Tony smiled as he watched her, feeling incredibly grateful for her being his. Tony slipped the shrapnel into his pocket and made his way around waiting couches and chairs to approach Pepper from behind. He wrapped his arms around her waist, making her jump.

"Hey, you." He mumbled into her neck. Pepper instantly relaxed when she heard his voice.

"Look who's free." She grinned up at him. Tony rolled his eyes and kissed her forehead.

"Where the hell is Rhodes, I want to go home."

* * *

><p>"Owwwww!" Tony complained loudly as Pepper fastened the new bandages over his chest.<p>

"Tony, stop fidgeting." Pepper said, calmly. She was used to this routine whenever Tony got hurt and she helped bandage up his wounds. He got impatient and moved around too much, making it hard not to hurt him. He sighed and finally stayed firmly planted on the stool next to the counter, just in time for Pepper to finish.

"Done." She said as Tony swung around to face her. He looked up into her eyes with his puppy dog brown ones. She felt her stomach flutter still, just like she used to back before they were even together. Pepper leaned down to kiss Tony, and he happily complied. He frowned when she pulled back too quickly, though.

"You're cramping my style, Potts."

Pepper chuckled and rolled her eyes. "You'll live. You have a meeting in thirty minutes. If we start this now, we'll never get out of here."

"I'll be quick!"

Pepper laughed. "Tony, it's you're first meeting for a month now, you have to get ready." She told him. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Fine, but you're asking for it later." He told her. Pepper raised her eyebrows. This wasn't exactly a threat. "In fact, be wearing something nice when I get home. I have something planned." He told her, smiling proudly. Pepper narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

"Don't look so worried!" Tony started. Pepper grinned.

"Fine, what did I tell you? I trust you." She said, making Tony smile proudly. "Most of the time…" she muttered afterwards making him scowl at her.

"Oh, come on. Get going." She said, pulling him off the stool and guiding him to their room to get ready for the meeting. The only thing that was going to get him through it was the thought of coming home to a nice planned evening with his Pepper.

* * *

><p>Tony wore his white suit, which was rare. He actually spent time on his hair instead of just carefully ruffling it, which did work out for him every time anyway. A thin black box was tucked away in the inner pocket of his jacket for Pepper. He had had it made specially… what was inside the box, not the box, obviously money not being a problem. It had taken the crafters a couple days as he sped them along so he could have this night with Pepper.<p>

Standing in the middle of the penthouse living room, Tony felt nervous all over again… and he didn't know why. Usually when he went on official dates with Pepper like this, he did feel nervous. He wanted it to be perfect, and himself to be perfect for her. He felt like he did while he watched her all those years before that one night on the rooftop by the Expo. He thought back and smiled… he loved thinking about that night.

Pepper walked into the room, interrupting his thoughts. He looked at her and couldn't help but smile. She never failed to amaze him with her beauty. Her dress was tight and silvery with tank-straps crossing over her shoulders and down her back which was mostly showing. It hugged her hips and stopped pretty short to Tony's satisfaction. Her hair was down and straight… natural. Tony liked it like that.

Pepper smiled back at him and shook her head. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing. You look gorgeous, babe." Tony told her, making her smile more.

"You're not too bad yourself." She said, smirking. Tony did an imaginary hair flip.

"I try." He said, not even attempting to keep his ego down. Pepper rolled her eyes and made her way across the room to kiss him. Tony pulled her against him and playfully nipped at her bottom lip making Pepper hum happily.

"The night hasn't even started." She smiled at him. Tony shrugged.

"Never too early to get some Pepper." was his answer. He knew how to charm his way through everything. "Now come on, we're on the floor right below." Pepper eyed him with question, but he didn't answer. He only took her by the hand and led her to the elevator where they kissed all the way down. Tony had a feeling he wasn't going to last long with his pants on.

When the doors opened, Pepper took in a sharp breath.

"Did- did you do all of this?" she breathed, looking at the large room in front of her. She'd never bothered going to this floor; she never had a reason to. It would've been just a completely empty room surrounded by big glass windows if Tony hadn't completely transformed it. There was a circular table set up in the middle for them, a white table cloth draped over the surface. Two chairs sat across from each other, waiting from them to occupy each one. Candles were everywhere… on the table, hanging from the ceiling, lining the walls. Soft music played from… somewhere. Pepper wasn't entirely sure where, but it didn't matter. The floors were glossy and reflected the beautiful lights of New York City. Flowers were placed on the table along with dinner for each of them.

"Yeah…" Tony said, surprisingly modestly. "You like it?"

Pepper grinned up at him and nodded. "I love it, Tony." A year ago she would've never guessed that Tony Stark had the ability to be so romantic. She was still in awe whenever he did anything like this.

"Well, then. After you, Miss Potts." Tony whispered in her ear.

* * *

><p>They'd ended up dancing together after dinner and a toast to not being dead and Tony not having a big hole in his chest anymore. Pepper was wrapped tightly in Tony's arms with her own wrapped around his neck. Her head lied on his shoulder as they danced and she wished they could stay like that forever. Everything was perfect, Tony had made it so. She grinned to herself. Maybe she should start trusting him more often.<p>

"Oh yeah," Tony said, gently loosening his grip on Pepper to pull away.

"Hey…" she said, disappointed. Tony smirked and kissed her cheek.

"Chill, Peps. I got you something." He told her, reaching into his jacket.

"Aw, Tony. Why'd-"

"Nope, shh. No questions." He interrupted. Pepper chuckled and shook her head. She wasn't going to argue that. Tony pulled out a thin black box and handed it to Pepper. They were standing by one of the huge windows that reached from the floor up to the ceiling so it was like they were standing in the middle of the air with the New York skyscrapers all around them. Pepper looked at Tony before looking down at the box and sliding the top off. She was immediately smiling when she saw the necklace inside.

"IIIIIIIII bet you can't guess what the chain is made out of." Tony challenged her. Pepper took the delicate chain in her hands. There will small fragments of… something chained together. It was beautiful with the red jewel surrounded by diamonds, but Tony was right… she had no idea. She glanced up at Tony, her eyebrows drawn together. He gave her a half smile and lightly tapped his chest.

"Wait… no way! Tony how'd you do this?"

"I asked the doctors to save the shrapnel and then found a pretty good craftsman." He simply answered. Pepper looked at the necklace in awe as Tony went on explaining. "Pep, I know I give you some pretty good reasons not to trust me. But I do want you to trust me when I say, I'll always be yours. No matter what happens, I'll never ever leave you. My heart forever belongs to you… and so does the closest thing I could get from it." Tony chuckled, gesturing towards the shrapnel. Pepper just stared up at him. She felt like her heart was beating at a million beats a second, but she didn't care. All she could think of was how much she loved the man standing in front of her now.

"Help me put it on." She said. Tony took the necklace from the box and Pepper turned around so he could put it on from behind. She moved her hair out of the way so he could fasten it on. Pepper let her hair cascade down her back once more and looked at the necklace. She loved it, she loved him. Needless to say, she was happy both of them were alive to have this moment. And every moment afterwards.

Pepper turned back and was immediately pressed up against Tony in a kiss that started off subtle, but certainly didn't stay that way. Her hands ran through his hair, and his hands skimmed across the open back of her dress. They made their way to the elevator and eventually to their room. Things had worked out near to perfect at this point, Tony realized. He had his Pepper and that was all that mattered. Next stop, becoming Iron Man again.


	11. I'm Back!

So I've been taking a break from Avengers Fanfics to get my visions of what I want to write about renewed. I've always intended to come back but there are five stories I want to work on and that's a lot to manage

**However, after watching Age of Ultron, I can't imagine ****_not _****writing more Avengers fanfics. It was phenomenal and I can't wait to start working on:**

**Shattered (Tony and Pepper)**

**Loki's Return (Post-Thor 2)**

**Deleted Scenes (Everyone)**

**I'll be trying to write a lot more often to manage 5 stories, so if there are any more followers out there who've continued to wait, thank you so much and the wait is over **


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